


It's Not Easy Being Green

by kashmir



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-01
Updated: 2008-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-09 02:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/81946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kashmir/pseuds/kashmir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/mcsmooch/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://community.livejournal.com/mcsmooch/"><b>mcsmooch</b></a>. Huge, huge thanks to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/unamaga">unamaga</a> for wrangling my story into something readable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not Easy Being Green

When it comes out after an embarrassing mix-up with some official papers that Lorne's first name is actually Sunshine, John takes extreme delight in calling him 'Major Sunshine' at every available opportunity.

In public, whenever possible. The mess is always a good choice.

"Good morning, Major Sunshine," John will say cheerfully while standing in line for oatmeal. "Isn't it a beautiful day?"

"Please," Lorne always says a little desperately.

"The sun is shining," John continues blithely, smiling at the marine who doles out his breakfast, "the water is calm, the clouds are fluffy and white. Aren't they, Corporal?"

"Yes, sir."

Lorne doesn't comment. A sidelong glance confirms that he is indeed blushing. John claps him on the back in a manly fashion and, satisfied, goes about his business – which mostly consists of grabbing a second cup of coffee and braving the ravening beast that is Rodney McKay before 9 AM.

It's a routine John's fallen into without even thinking about it – breakfast with the team, lunch with Rodney and Radek, dinner with whoever's not too busy saving the galaxy. The normality of it is soothing. John tells himself that's the only reason his gut knots up when he heads into the mess one afternoon and spots Lorne and Rodney sitting together - alone - at a table, talking animatedly and _laughing_.

"Hey, guys," he says with forced cheer, plunking down his tray with more violence than he really means to. It takes an infuriating moment before either of the two notice him, but he comforts himself with the fact that he knows exactly where Lorne sleeps.

"Oh, hello, Colonel," Rodney says absently.

Fortunately for him, Lorne is too good as a second to get rid of, John thinks, slightly more charitably. He settles in with his sandwich and apple, content to let Rodney's babble flow over him.

Every day that goes by, though, it gets harder to ignore the growing ball of... whatever it is in John's belly. Lorne and Rodney are suddenly spending most of their free time together, eating their meals at the same table; the night before, Rodney had missed his and John's long-standing Tuesday night chess game to (apparently) take a look at some of Lorne's art.

"You missed our game to look at his – his –"

Rodney interrupts him, thankfully, before he can say anything damning. "He's really good, you know. He has one of Atlantis painted entirely in gold and blue," Rodney says.

_He's really good, you know_, John hears again like some sort of demented echo. _He's really good_.

"Hmph," John snorts derisively to himself as he goes over requisition forms. Yeah, he bets Rodney went there just to look at Lorne's 'etchings.'

He knows he can't ask and Lorne can't tell, but that doesn't stop him from demanding to know what the hell Lorne thinks he's doing making the moves on _John's_ scientist and - oh.

_Oh_, he thinks as he sits back, paperwork forgotten. That's what the whole belly knot thing was about. He was jealous. Of _Lorne_. Lorne and _Rodney_.

He glances at his watch and figures it's late enough to check on Rodney, play 'herd the scientist into bed before he falls asleep on a computer'. As he's rounding the corner to Rodney's lab, he catches sight of Lorne leaving in the other direction, a small smile playing about his lips. John feels his throat get tight and his skin prickle as he clenches his fists, marching determinedly into Rodney's lab.

Rodney's sitting at one of the work stations, eating a power bar, a cup of coffee sitting at his elbow. He turns and spots John, smiling a little as he put down his snack.

"Ah, Colonel! Have you gotten over your little hissy--" he starts to say, but John grabs his face - doesn't speak - and kisses him roughly, tongue fucking his mouth, moaning at the taste of coffee mixed with the chocolate of the powerbar and the underlying tang of Rodney.

John's hands cup Rodney's jaw tightly, and when he finally pulls away, they're both panting, flushed. Rodney raises a shaky hand to his lips and looks at John dazedly.

"Kiss?" he says, obviously trying to comprehend what just happened.

John just grunts and leans down, presses one more hard kiss on Rodney's lips and pulls back enough to whisper, "Just. Let it be me, okay?"

Rodney looks confused for a half a second before realization dawns and he shakes his head, grabbing for John, who has turned to go in the moment it's taken Rodney to figure everything out.

"Hey, hey, no. It's not - John. We're just friends - you know, bonded over the off-beat first names. I - he. He's in love with Teyla if you must know!" Rodney huffs and then turns to fiddle with his laptop, powering it down for the night. "She has no idea, and, well. Until recently - and I mean till about five minutes ago - I thought I knew exactly how that felt."

John catches on then, smiling a little and feeling foolish, but glad – glad something had finally nudged him into doing _something_ about the crush he'd been nursing for close to four years. So he smiles like a dope and steps into Rodney's personal space and says, "Really?"

Rodney snorts at that (affectionately) and whacks John upside the head (also affectionately), and then kisses him, soft, sweet, sure.

"Really, really," he mumbles against John's smile.


End file.
